For years now famous feminists (such as Anita Sarkeesian) have promoted the slogan "listen and believe" as a counter-movement to the perceived alleged prevalence of people, especially police officers, dismissing rape accusations without enough investigation (because feminists think that the entire western society is deeply misogynist and rape claims by women are simply dismissed as a matter of fact, and hardly any rape victim gets justice because she is not taken seriously.)
However, if you ever succeed in asking such a feminist in more detail what that slogan means, what they really mean is "listen and take seriously", not "listen and believe". In other words, what they are advocating for is that when a woman makes a rape or sexual harassment accusation, that accusation should be taken seriously and investigated, rather than simply dismissed outright. Most feminists would probably agree with this.
But there's a rather major difference between "take seriously" and "believe". In the slogan, they are sneakily (and probably deliberately) equating them, ie. using "believe" as a synonym for "take seriously", "don't dismiss outright".
But that's not what the word "believe" means, rather obviously. "Believing" something is taking it as the truth, as a fact. "Believing" a rape accusation means that you take it as a fact that the accusation is real and the rape actually happened. That's significantly different from simply taking the accusation seriously and investigating to find out what happened.
I strongly believe (hah!) that these feminist academics are using the ambiguity of that word purposefully: If pressed, they can fall back into just arguing "it just means that accusations should be taken seriously; obviously all such accusations should be investigated and the accused considered innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt."
However, that's not the meaning that their army of brainwashed drones thinks of. They think that it literally means exactly what it says, in other words, if a woman makes a rape accusation it must be believed without question. The rape did happen, period, and that fact must not be doubted. It must be believed. If you doubt the accusation, you are a misogynist monster who is oppressing and hurting that woman and destroying her mental and physical health. And if you do that, you deserve to be physically assaulted.
This tactic, using a possible double meaning of the word "believe", is deliberate.
However, if you ever succeed in asking such a feminist in more detail what that slogan means, what they really mean is "listen and take seriously", not "listen and believe". In other words, what they are advocating for is that when a woman makes a rape or sexual harassment accusation, that accusation should be taken seriously and investigated, rather than simply dismissed outright. Most feminists would probably agree with this.
But there's a rather major difference between "take seriously" and "believe". In the slogan, they are sneakily (and probably deliberately) equating them, ie. using "believe" as a synonym for "take seriously", "don't dismiss outright".
But that's not what the word "believe" means, rather obviously. "Believing" something is taking it as the truth, as a fact. "Believing" a rape accusation means that you take it as a fact that the accusation is real and the rape actually happened. That's significantly different from simply taking the accusation seriously and investigating to find out what happened.
I strongly believe (hah!) that these feminist academics are using the ambiguity of that word purposefully: If pressed, they can fall back into just arguing "it just means that accusations should be taken seriously; obviously all such accusations should be investigated and the accused considered innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt."
However, that's not the meaning that their army of brainwashed drones thinks of. They think that it literally means exactly what it says, in other words, if a woman makes a rape accusation it must be believed without question. The rape did happen, period, and that fact must not be doubted. It must be believed. If you doubt the accusation, you are a misogynist monster who is oppressing and hurting that woman and destroying her mental and physical health. And if you do that, you deserve to be physically assaulted.
This tactic, using a possible double meaning of the word "believe", is deliberate.
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